Two Ohio sites on B.A.S.S. top lakes list

Speaking of rankings, which the popular media seem to do a lot, the marketing brotherhood known as B.A.S.S. recently released its top 100 bass-fishing lakes in the nation for 2014.

Dave Golowenski, For The Columbus Dispatch

Speaking of rankings, which the popular media seem to do a lot, the marketing brotherhood known as B.A.S.S. recently released its top 100 bass-fishing lakes in the nation for 2014.

Anglers living in central Ohio will be required to do a little traveling to reach any of the hallowed destinations.

The Buckeye State has two entries: Pymatuning Reservoir at No. 71 and western Lake Erie at No. 56.

Here’s what B.A.S.S. says about Pymatuning’s 17,088 acres shared with Pennsylvania: “The chunky smallmouth here are considered muskie bait, so get ’em to the boat fast!”

Here’s the word on Lake Erie west: “You’ll not catch the numbers of smallies in this corner of the Great Lake, but they are enormous.”

Pymatuning previously hadn’t made the B.A.S.S. top 100. The entirety of Lake Erie was rated No. 5 last year and No. 4 in 2012. Evidently, the raters recognized that Lake Erie is a big body of water and decided to localize their rankings this year.

Thus, B.A.S.S.’s No. 3-rated water for 2014 is Lake Erie, though restricted to the area around Buffalo, where “largemouth abound in the shallow bays and marinas, and smallmouth are crazy thick."

Not-distant Lake St. Clair comes in at No. 16 after being rated No. 1 last year and No. 13 in 2012.

B.A.S.S.’s top-rated water is Sturgeon Bay, Wis., an inlet from Lake Michigan that is said to teem with smallmouth.

Parting shots

Adequate winter precipitation in the Plains and Upper Midwest filled many of the prairie potholes, allowing the waterfowl nesting season to get off to a good start, Ducks Unlimited reported. … Grand Lake St. Marys, known in recent years for its summer blooms of toxic blue-green algae, will be the site of a Crappie USA tournament on Saturday. … A moose attack sent two Colorado women to the hospital. One of the women suffered four broken ribs, required 15 stitches in her leg and needed 10 staples in her head after she was rammed in the chest.